Difference between open-ended and close-ended mutual fund schemes?

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Open-ended schemes can be bought from or sold to fund house directly at daily NAV price. It allows investors to withdraw money at point of time, which provides liquidity to the investor. Close-ended schemes have fixed maturity period. For close-ended schemes subscription remains open only for limited period after which purchase or sell of units can be undertaken through stock exchange. Fund houses give an exit option to investors at regular interval and buy back units from investors but with heavy exit load. The basic difference between two is in close-ended schemes total number of issued units remain the same as issued during new offer period. Once offer closes it is the same number of units, which keep changing hands, which is not the case in open-ended schemes as number of units keep changing.